Thin Silicone Membranes—Their Permeation Properties and Some
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THIN SILICONE MEMBRANES- THEIR PERMEATION PROPERTIES AND SOME APPLICATIONS W. L. Robb General Electric Company* Waterford,N. Y. INTRODUCTION While the permeation of gases through solid materials is often a nuisance and sometimes a hazard, in recent years several useful applications have been found for this phenomenon. For example, H, is purified by diffusion through Pd-Ag foils, 0, partial pressures are measured in instruments dependent on 0, permeat- ing through a plastic membrane, and artificial lungs based on permeation of 0, and CO, through thin polymeric membranes are being developed. These appli- cations are only the beginning, for recent advances in membrane technology portend uses as far afield as water desalination by reverse osmosis and the separation of azeotropes by membrane perm-vaporation. When one wishes to separate noncondensable gases by a membrane technique, his first consideration should be whether a silicone rubber membrane can be used. This stems from the unusually high permeability of silicone rubber, indi- cated in TABLE 1, a tabulation of 0, permeabilities in various membranes. TABLE1 0, PERMEAB~ITIESIN VARIOUS POLYMERS Pro. x loo [ cc’s (CTP), cm Polymer sec, sq cm, cm Hg AP 1 Dimethyl silicone rubber 60 Fluorosilicone 11 Nitrile silicone 8.5 Natural rubber 2.4 Ethyl cellulose 2.1 Polyethylene, low density 0.8 BPA polycarbonate .16 Butyl rubber .14 Polystyrene .12 Polyethylene, high density .1 Cellulose acetate .08 Methyl cellulose .Ol Polyvinyl chloride .014 Polyvinyl alcohol .01 Nylon 6 .004 Polyvinylidene fluoride .003 Mylar .0019 Kel F (unplasticized) .001 Vinylidene chloride-vinyl chloride .0005 Teflon .0004 This Table shows that not only standard dimethyl silicone rubber but also many silicone derivatives have 0, permeabilities higher than even the most permeable nonsilicone plastics. In addition to high permeabilities, silicone rubber also has *Work performed at the General Electric Research & Development Center, Schnectady, N. Y. 119 120 Annals New York Academy of Sciences useful selectivity; i.e., it allows certain gases to permeate faster than others. In fact, these properties suggested that, were it available in a 1-mil, hole-free film and in a form that could be packaged and supported against a high-pressure gradient, silicone rubber could compete with other methods for enriching or extracting certain gases. In addition, certain processes not heretofore possible would become feasible; for example, the creation of an artificial gill for humans. A method to produce such membrane has been developed, and I-mil hole-free silicone rubber, either free or bonded to a porous support cloth, is now avail- able in limited quantity. In light of this availability, it is worthwhile to examine the permeation properties of silicone rubber in greater depth. In addition, the results of an experimental study of three possible applications of the membrane are herein presented; oxygen enrichment, air regeneration in an isolated chamber, and air regeneration underwater. GASPERMEABILITY IN SILICONE RUBBER Experimental Procedure The first published values for the permeability of ordinary gases in silicone rubber are those of Kammerrneyerl, reported in 1957. Barrer et ~1.~~~reported permeabilities of C, and C, hydrocarbons in silicone rubber, and they measured solubilities and diffusion rates of these vapors as well. Other data on the perme- ability of silicones are given by Roberts and Kammermeyer.* Permeabilities measured in this laboratory show no disagreement with pre- viously published values. In this section, new measurements are reported for a variety of gases over a very wide range of parameters such as film thickness, temperature, pressure, gas composition, etc.; in addition, measurements of d8u- sion rates and solubilities in silicone rubber by the “time-lag” method are reported for several gases. Permeability constants measured for many gases and vapors on a sample of filled dimethyl silicone rubber film are given in TABLE 2. This particular silicone rubber consisted of dimethyl siloxane plus 33 % by weight silica filler. The meas- TABLE2 GASPERMEABILITIES IN DIMETHYL-SILICONE RUBBER (25%) ~~~ Pr x 1oD PI x lP cc gas (RTP) cm cc gas (RTP) cm Gas [sec, sq cm, cm Hg .PI Gas [sec, sq cm. cm Hg AP] Hl 65 135 He 35 2640 NHs 590 410 H,O 3600 900 CO 34 2000 Nz 28 940 NO 60 860 60 430 1000 1110 60 CH,OH 1390 325 COCI, 1500 435 Acetone 586 760 Pyridine 1910 1500 Benzene 1080 9000 Phenol 2100 95 Toluene 913 250 Robb: Thin Silicone Membranes 121 urements were made in a conventional two-bulb apparatus that could be evacu- ated initially to less than 10-3 mm Hg pressure. The silicone membrane was supported on a porous paper and screen, and the thickness of the membrane was determined from the weight of a given area of membrane. Following evacuation of both the high- and low-pressure sides of the perme- ability cell, gas was admitted to the high-pressure side from a container of gas at known pressure and volume. Permeability rates were usually measured with only a few centimeters of mercury pressure of the specific gas on the high-pres- sure side. For the “noncondensable” gases, a McLeod gauge was used to measure the pressure buildup on the low-pressure side of the membrane. For the con- densable hydrocarbons, a mercury manometer and cathetometer were used, the vapor pressure on the high-pressure side always being kept below the saturated vapor pressure. Water permeation rate was measured by the weight loss of a membrane-covered cup of water which was kept in a dry environment. Permeation rates are given at 25OC in terms of cc’s of an ideal gas or vapor measured at one atm and 25OC. For condensable vapors, this is an artificial vol- ume that might cause confusion if not realized. Measurement of Gas Solubility and Diffusionin Coeficient The data in TABLE 2 support the hypothesis that permeation of polymeric membranes does not occur by leakage through small holes in the membrane. It will be noted, for example, that helium is one of the least permeable gases in spite of its having the smallest molecular diameter. Carbon dioxide is seen to permeate about ten times as fast as helium, and the aliphatic hydrocarbons are seen to peak at C,, with lower permeation rates being measured for both shorter and longer hydrocarbon molecules. This order of permeabilities for various gases in silicone rubber is consistent with permeation in other polymers. It was first proposed by Graham in 1866, and in greater detail by Wroblewski in 1879, that the permeability rate is really a function of two more basic properties: the solubility (S) of the gas in the polymer and the rate of diffusion (D) of this dissolved gas in the polymer. More specifically, it was proposed that the permeability constant (Pr) was really the product of the dif- fusion rate and solubility; i.e., Pr = D X S. Daynes5 showed that D and S could be determined from permeability meas- urements by the “time-lag” method, provided Fick’s and Henry’s laws apply. By use of this method of measurement, diffusion coefficients and solubilities were TABLB3 SOLUBILITIESAND DIFFUSIONRATES OF GASESIN SILJCONERUBBER He 28.0 35.5 60 0.045 HI 21.5 66 43 .12 CH, 21.5 94 12.7 57 N. 28 28.1 15 .15 0; 21.4 62 16 .31 Ar 27.5 61.3 14 .33 CO, 27.6 323 11 2.2 C,H,O 26 UlOOO c5 15 NOTE: Pr = 75 cm Hg/atm 122 Annals New York Academy of Sciences SILICONE RUBBER IW > A ..I NATURAL RUBBER (8) " r7 U AA A LOW DENSITY PE(7) r A H2 Ne O2 Kr NH3 CONE CYQ I 2 .? 2.8 2.9 3.0 3. I 3.2 MOLECULAR DIAMETER, 8 FIGURE1. Diffusion rates of dissolved gases in polymers. obtained for various gases and vapors in silicone rubber. These data are given in TABLE 3. The diffusion coefficients and gas solubilities are also shown in FIG- URES 1 and 2 along with comparable data for other polymers. It is seen that the solubilities measured are very comparable to those reported for other polymers, and they are also comparable to gas solubilities in many organic liquids. As Hildebrand and Scottg point out, the solubilities increase exponentially with the Lennard-Jones constant for the gases, this constant being closely approximated by the normal boiling point of the gas in degrees Kelvin. On the other hand, diffusion rates in silicone rubber are seen to be almost an order of magnitude higher than diffusion rates for the same gases in the most permeable hydrocarbon polymers. Therefore, the unusually high permeabilities in silicone rubber are mainly due to the high rate of diffusion of the dissolved gases. This property of silicone rubber is a direct result of the greater flexibility or mobility of the Si-0 bond as compared to the C-C or C=C bond characteristic of the polymeric backbone of natural rubber. Robb: Thin Silicone Membranes 123 A DIMETHY L - SI LlCONE 0 8 A 0 0 L.D. POLYETHYLENE (7) 0 POLYCARBONATE (8 1 lop POLYVINYLIDENE FLU ORlDE Ft !% w u t ?? z 0.11: 0: lnW z m3 toA II II I I I I He HP CON, Oe A CH, MI 0 I00 I50 200 LENNARD JONES COEFFICIENT, "K FIGURE2. Gas solubilities in polymers. Direct measurements of gas solubilities in silicone materials with a sorption balance agree reasonably with the solubility values obtained indirectly by the "time-lag" method. McGregorlO has reported solubilities for 0, and N, in dimethyl silicone fluids essentially equal to those reported here, and a value for CO, one-half that reported here. Also, Cannon, St.